Our mission statement at Fort Pentecostal Assembly is Jesus family, Bible based, Holy Spirit lead, urgently reaching up, reaching in and reaching out. The talk today is an challenge to live up to the 'urgently' part of our mission statement.

I'm starting a three part series today that will take use to our next Messy Church in February. I'm going to tell you right now that the first two messages will be a bit more challenging to listen to, but the last one should bring everything into balance. So, I'm asking you to bear with me.

Our ancient brother James penned these words to the Christians of his day.

Jas 1:23-25 NLT For if you listen to the word and don't obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. (24) You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. (25) But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

I hope to hold up the mirror of the Word in the next couple of weeks. Let's take a look at what we look like and see if the reflection is one we're happy with. I'm finding that as I'm sincerely trying to pray more and overcome apathy that's crept into my life, the Holy Spirit is pointing out things to me. So, I'm not pointing a finger at anyone. I'm just lifting up the mirror. Here's the Word. Are we living it?

A few years ago we came together to decide on a mission statement for our congregation. Some of you weren't here for that, but most of you were. Dean did his magic card thing and after some deliberation we decided that we liked how this sounded. Jesus' family, Bible based, Holy Spirit lead, reaching up, reaching in, and reaching out. I liked it – that's pretty much my personal goal all the time but there were a few that thought it was missing something.

After some more deliberation it was decided that a better mission statement was Jesus' family, Bible based, Holy Spirit lead, urgently reaching up, reaching in, and reaching out. That made me nervous. I am a very laid back person. I don't like getting stressed out about things, all though I still do from time to time. I don't like anyone telling me to "move it" or to get going. I don't like people pushing me. I always wonder what the rush is. What's the big deal? Relax. I say "relax" a lot. I don't think my family likes it.

Partly it's just me being stubborn. The more someone pushes the slower I'll go. It's my passive aggressiveness. I can do passive aggressive really, really well. But that's not a good thing, and that's why this mission statement made me nervous. Could I be urgent about something like this? Can I be urgent in reaching up, in and out.

We sang the Leland song a couple of weeks ago that has the line. "May we see this generation in its state of desperation for Your glory. This is an emergency." I'm not sure it's in me to really act like we're in a state of spiritual emergency; partly because I don't believe God means us to live that way. I believe He's got it all in control. I'm like the old Mad magazine guy. "What? Me worry?" The Bible is clear that we aren't supposed to be anxious or worried, so I got that part right. But I think there probably should be a greater sense of urgency in our lives. Not anxious, not worried, just urgent.

Here are some synonyms for urgent: vital, imperative, burning, insistent, persuasive, earnest, pleading, beseeching. Yeah, those are words that should describe the Church. I wonder did any of those words describe me this past year? Did any of those words describe you?

Are we living up to our mission statement? Are we urgently reaching up, in and out? Just take a look at yourself. Did we reach up to God in 2011? Yes. Did we reach in to help each other and minister to each other occasionally. Did we reach out to the lost yep, that's probably what we are most effective at right now. If you look at the size of our church and the things we do to reach out, and the percentage of people that get involved, we are doing really, really well in that area. Did we do any of those things with an urgency? Did we do those things with passion and intensity? Did you put your heart and soul into the things we planned to do as a congregation to meet needs both within our family and outside our family? I can only judge myself. This is a mirror I'm holding up today. Did you do those things with passion, insistence and vitality?

While it's not my job to judge it is my job to lead and to challenge. I've been praying about what God would have me do as a leader to bring that urgency to my life and to our congregation. Sometimes I don't feel up to the job because it's just not me to be a leader like we normally see pastors leading. I just don't jive with traditional organized religion. I feel like God is telling me that the things that make me a good coach also make me a good pastor. It's the same toolbox and the same skill set.

When I coach a team I try very hard to be positive and give my team a sense that they can do it. I never worry about mistakes, I only care about effort. We all make mistakes. We lose games sometimes because people make mistakes. I always tell them it's all right. No problem. Keep working on it. Are you trying? Are you doing the best that you can do? Are you trying your best to run our plays and follow our game plan? That's only reason I would get upset.

The coaches get together and look at the strengths and weaknesses of our team. Then we come up with a game plan that we believe will give us a chance to be successful. If the players don't buy in to the plan we ask them to sit on the bench. Those are things I insist on. Follow our game plan and try your hardest. Give it your all. Give it your best.

I was thinking on that and I felt God saying that's what a good spiritual leader is like. Insist on effort. Don't settle for less. Don't compromise. Encourage the church to follow the game plan.

So, I need to ask: Are you putting your best effort into the life of this congregation? Are you buying into the game plan? If we all buy into our mission statement we need everyone attending every meeting we can. Be here every Sunday that you can. Be here every prayer meeting that you can. I am going to say again, prayer is so vital. We need to have an urgency about prayer. Support every outreach event that we do. Help out in the kitchen. Help out with the clean up. Cut the grass sometime. Shovel the walk if it needs shovelling.

God isn't interested in scraps. He deserves the best of everything we've got. I'm not asking you to do it for me, or because I'm telling you to. This is God's Church. This is God's ministry. This is God's kingdom. He picked me to be coach of this team. He brought you all here. Are we giving Him the best that we've got?

Someone made a comment to me last week that they had some friends that would like to try out our church, but because they live out of town the 10:30 start time is hard for them. I seriously considered asking you if 11am would be better for everyone. Then I was praying on Wed and I just felt like "What am I thinking?" If people can't get up a half hour earlier on Sunday morning to go to church what does that say about the Church in Canada? Why are we trying to make things easier for people? "Oh I would like to come to this or that but it's hard" Hey, nobody said being a Christian was going to be easy. You signed up. You enlisted in the Lord's army.

I remember the day I signed up as clear as day. It was at youth conference in Calgary and Rich Wilkerson was the speaker. He was talking on what it means to be an enemy of the cross. Your God is your belly. You delight in your shame. It's from one of Paul's writings. Then he challenge all the youth there to enlist as a soldier of the cross. He told us to stand up and shout as loud as we could, "Private __________ reporting for duty, Lord Sir!" It started slow and it began to swell and one after another teenagers got to their feet to report for duty. The Holy Spirit rose up within me and a fire burned within me and I jumped to my feet and I shouted, "Private Swan, reporting for duty, Lord, Sir!"

I signed up. I enlisted in the army of the Lord. Maybe no one every explained it to you, but so did you when you came to Jesus. You became a soldier in the army of the Lord. We are in a spiritual battle.

We can't tell the Lord Almighty when we are going to march and when we are going to have a coffee break. We are soldiers in the army of the Lord – so many of us simply aren't fighting the spiritual fight. Why aren't we challenging people to give God more?

I say again, God doesn't want our leftovers. You don't sign up for the marines and then tell them you'll come if you can make it. I don't want my wife's leftovers. I want her full attention. I want to be number one in her life. I want everyone and everything else, apart from God, to take a back seat to me. And I want to her to expect and receive that same passion from my heart. I'm offended if I feel like something is more important to my wife than I am. Why should God feel any different?

Jesus, what is the greatest thing we can do for you?

Mar 12:29-30 NLT Jesus replied, "The most important commandment is this: 'Listen, O Israel! The LORD our God is the one and only LORD. (30) And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.'

Randy Stonehill sings a song that puts a fire in my heart every time I listen to it. It's called angry young men. I'm not angry and I'm not young anymore so let's just call it Christians who love Him.

He wants some Christans who love Him/Ones who can't be bought/Ones who will not run from a fight/Ones who speak the truth whether it's popular or not/Ones who'd give up anything to walk in His light

Rest assured when Jesus comes again

He'll be looking for some Christians who love Him

He wants some Christans who love Him/with fire in their eyes/Ones who understand what Jesus gave/Ones who have grown weary of the world and all its lies/Ones who won't forget they've been delivered from the grave

(Repeat Chorus)

They say if you don't laugh you cry/I say if you don't live you die/Well, well, the road to hell is paved with some impressive alibis/But unless you thirst for Jesus first/ Man, heaven will pass you by/Heaven will pass you by

You'll be tempted, tried and tested/There'll be wars the devil wins/But God's love is not a license to lie there in your sins/He understands the human heart/His mercy is complete/But His grace was not intended/As a place to wipe your feet

(Repeat Chorus)

He wants some Christans who love Him/Who love the Lord they serve/Ones who'll do much more than make a speech/Ones who'll act their faith out with a passion it deserves/'Cause if we cannot live it/Tell me, who are we to preach?

(Repeat Chorus)

Do we know we are nothing without Him? Do we feel that we are lost without Him? Do we know that every good thing in our lives has come from Him? Is He the air we breathe?

In Him we live and move and have our being. (Acts 17:28) Jesus said we can do nothing apart from Him. God doesn't force Himself into our lives. If we feel we can get along without Him He will let us try.

God is looking for the sincere and the true worshipper. SpePaking to the Samaritan Jesus pointed out that there isn't a place that you worship God. God wants truth. Gathering in a building once or twice a week does not necessarily constitute true worship.

Joh 4:22-24 (23) But the time is coming–indeed it's here now–when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship Him that way.

True worship starts with an understanding that I am nothing without God. That I desperately need Him in my life. I can do nothing good without Him. He has life in His hands. He is the One who provides all that I need and I urgently reach up to Him.

Every time we meet there are people with troubles. We live in troubled times and people are troubled. I remember an old song that a soloist sang when I was in choir back in the day at Bible School. You may be familiar with it. People need the Lord.

Everyday they pass me by, I can see it in their eyes. Empty people filled with care, Headed who knows where? On they go through private pain, Living fear to fear. Laughter hides their silent cries, Only Jesus hears.

People need the Lord, people need the Lord. At the end of broken dreams, He's the open door. People need the Lord, people need the Lord. When will we realize, people need the Lord?

We are called to take His light To a world where wrong seems right. What could be too great a cost For sharing Life with one who's lost? Through His love our hearts can feel All the grief they bear. They must hear the Words of Life Only we can share.

People need the Lord, people need the Lord At the end of broken dreams, He's the open door. People need the Lord, people need the Lord. When will we realize that we must give our lives, For peo-ple need the Lord. People need the Lord.

This is just as true for the saint as it is for the sinner. When we get saved all of life's problems don't simply leave. In some cases life becomes much tougher because the enemy of our souls attacks with more vigor. Peter said to the saints

1Pe 4:12 Dear friends, don't be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. 1Pe 4:13 Instead, be very gladfor these trials make you partners with Christ in His suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing His glory when it is revealed to all the world.

When you got saved you became a target and since that time you have had to endure many trials of various kinds. I wonder if we don't forget that sometimes in the Church. The people we see week by week are people that need the Lord every bit as much as the person who is lost in their sin. We are His hands and His feet. We are charged with taking care of each other. We are charged with proving to the world that we are Christians by the love that we show to each other.

Let's look in the mirror. Am I urgently reaching in to my brothers and sisters in Christ? I think there are people here who want to help each other, and do help each other. I think there are others that let apathy sink in a little bit, and there might be some who don't feel they need anyone's help. We need to grow in trust. We need to know that we can unpack our baggage to our brothers and sisters. We need to know that they are not only not going to judge, but that they are going to care. They are going to help if they can. They are going to pray.

Praying together is one of the most meaningful ways that we can support each other. I'm going to say it again. You need to come to prayer. Hear what I'm saying. I'm not commanding you, I'm trying to make you see that this is something that you need in your life. You need to have brothers and sisters praying for you. You need to be able to unpack your baggage and have the saints lifting you up. If you think you have it all together then you need to bring your faith and lift up someone else, because they need you. Are we urgently reaching in to each other as a body of Christ? Every week they pass us by. Hurting people filled with care, going who knows where. Christians need the Lord.

Are we urgently reaching in?

The reason I am here today, and the reason this Church building is here in this neighbourhood is because Jesus left a command with His followers before He ascended back to heaven.

Mat 28:18-20 NLT Jesus came and told His disciples, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. (19) Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. (20) Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

I have dedicated my life to try and fulfill Jesus' command. It so happens that His calling for me was to give leadership to the Church. Your calling is different, but your command is the same. Make disciples.

Jesus said. Mat 9:37-38 NLT He said to His disciples, "The harvest is great, but the workers are few. (38) So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send more workers into His fields."

Another reason to pray. Jesus wants us to pray for labourers in His fields. Jesus says the harvest is great but so few actually work at sharing the gospel message.

Jesus also said Joh 4:37 You know the saying, 'One plants and another harvests.' And it's true.

We may feel like the results have been limited in the things that we tried, but I feel very strongly that someone has to sow the seeds. Maybe this is our task. Maybe it isn't for us to receive the harvest. Everyone wants to be successful. Everyone wants to show how many people got saved in their church last year. Everyone wants to show how much money they raised and how high their salary is. I want some of those things, too, in all honesty, but right now, I understand that I might not be a harvester. I may be a sower. It may be that my calling and gifting is to work the hard soil and plant the seeds, watching over it. I'm okay with that. The important thing is: am I urgently working in the Lord's fields. If the harvesters are coming after me am I urgently planting those seeds? Am I urgently watering those seeds? It doesn't matter how successful I appear. Am I laboring in His fields?

Jesus said Joh 4:35 NLT You know the saying, 'Four months between planting and harvest.' But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest.

Church, there is no time left. It's time to say, "today." So many people have good intentions of doing something wonderful and selfless some day. The word today is urgently. Do it now. "Yeah, I'll come to prayer sometime." "I'll start giving more as soon as I get things under control here." "I'll get more involved when things calm down a bit in my life." Tomorrow is one of the devil's best weapons against the Church. We ease our conscience with promises of doing better tomorrow. Church, the harvesters are coming. Have we planted the seeds? Have we sowed them all over this neighbourhood? God is saying I want your best today.

Church, be urgent in your dealings with God. Be passionate about His kingdom. Be insistent in sharing the Gospel. Be earnest, be pleading, be vital to this congregation. Burn with a passion for God, His people and those who are lost, because we are Jesus' family, Bible based, Holy Spirit lead, urgently reaching up, reaching in and reaching out.

Advertisement